Studies have shown that many gamers actually like to see ads when they're playing their favorite first-person shooter or side-scroller. Hard as that may be to believe, the studies reveal that gamers find the ads make their experience more realistic.

Every time I think of that I have to heave a big sigh of resignation, since I find it depressing that realism based on ads is seen by some as a good thing.

But if you're one of the people whose opinion is reflected in those studies, you may be excited about a partnership announced Wednesday in which Sony Computer Entertainment of America and its European counterpart have struck a deal to incorporate dynamic in-game ads on the PlayStation 3.

The idea is that advertisers will be able to team up with game publishers to insert ads into PS3 games, seeking to leverage what the Yankee Group has estimated could be a $971 million market by 2011.

The partnership teams Sony with IGA Worldwide, one of the largest in-game ad providers in the world.

This was probably a necessary move for Sony, since it doesn't have its own in-game ad network and its chief games competitor, Microsoft, does, having bought Massive to stake out its place in the growing market.

On June 10, Geek Gestalt hits the highways for Road Trip 2008. I'll start in Orlando, Fla., and visit many of the South's most interesting destinations. Stay tuned, and be sure to keep up, both now and during the trip, with what I'm doing on Twitter.